Eurozone inflation growth slows down, but Germany bucks the trend with a higher rate. The region’s consumer prices rose by 2.2% year-on-year in November, below expectations.
Eurozone Inflation Rises Less Than Expected, More in Germany
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Inflation across the Eurozone continued to rise in November, but at a slower pace than anticipated. While some countries saw significant increases, others remained below the average rate.
Rise in Consumer Prices
According to the Luxembourg-based statistics office Eurostat, average consumer prices in November rose by 2.2% year-on-year, down slightly from the predicted 2.3%. This marks the second consecutive month of inflation growth, with October’s increase standing at 2% and September’s at 1.7%.
Country-Specific Inflation Rates
Belgium experienced the steepest November increase at 4.8%, followed closely by Romania and Croatia. The latter adopted the Euro in January 2023, making it one of the newest members to join the single currency area.
In contrast, Germany‘s inflation rate remained above average at 2.4%, while France and Italy stayed below 2%. Ireland, Lithuania, and Luxembourg registered the lowest annual rates.
Underlying Trend
The current trend is in line with the European Central Bank (ECB)’s medium-term target of 2%. This comes after a significant decrease from the highs of over 10% reached in late 2022 following Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Eurozone Construction Production
Meanwhile, Eurozone construction production also experienced a strong rebound in October. According to Eurostat data, construction output rose by 1% after suffering a 0.3% drop in September. This represents the strongest growth since February 2023.
The largest monthly increases in construction production were recorded in Austria, Hungary, and Portugal, while decreases were observed in Romania and Poland. Analysts attributed the rebound to a 1.6% growth in civil engineering activity, a 0.7% rise in the building sector, and a 0.5% gain in specialized construction activities.
